There are still too few figures on inequality and discrimination in Belgium, say Unia and the Equal Opportunities Team of the Federal Public Service (FPS) Justice. “For example, if you want to find out whether people of other origins have equal access to healthcare in Belgium, it will be difficult to find reliable data. We urgently need more high-quality data to map equality or inequality in key domains in Belgium”, emphasizes Els Keytsman, director of Unia.  

When Jonatas and Tim became victims of homophobic violence, they decided to take immediate action. They asked the police and Unia for help: two years after their report, the perpetrators were convicted by the court. We let Jonatas and Tim speak.   

Pandemic or not, we are here to combat discrimination. Unia is here to listen and to help. Subject, of course, to the appropriate precautions. How does this affect you?

Three years after Belgium was condemned for failing to guarantee the right to inclusive education in the Flemish Community for children with intellectual disabilities, the European Committee of Social Rights has made public its decision concerning education in the French Community of Belgium: Belgium is once again condemned.

Differentiation on the basis of skin colour is never permissible. There is not the slightest doubt about that.

1144 people participated in a study launched by Unia about obstacles that make it difficult for persons with disabilities to exercise their rights. Most respondents state that there has been no major progress in recent years. Being able to lead a decent life appears to be one of the biggest concerns.

The corona crisis that is gripping our country has fuelled mutual distrust among citizens. “We notice that there is a strong tendency to look for culprits or scapegoats”, says Els Keytsman, director of Unia. “This is a trend that we must counteract. Nobody benefits from it. We would do much better to support the countless forms of solidarity created by the pandemic. The corona crisis is certainly not over yet. We have to learn to live with this virus without destroying the solidarity in our society.”  

In 2006, S. Achbita was fired when she started wearing a headscarf at work. The case came before the Labour Court of Antwerp (2009), the Court of Cassation (2015), the Court of Justice of the European Union (2017) and the Labour Court of Ghent (2020). Below you can find a full chronology. 

"Improving equality data collection in Belgium" (IEDCB) is a Belgian project co-funded by the European Commission's Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) programme. It is carried out in partnership by the Equal Opportunities Team (FOD Justitie - SPF Justice) and Unia.

In 2019, Unia saw a continued upward trend in the number of reports and cases concerning discrimination. ‘The number of reports was 13.2% higher than in 2018, while the caseload increased by 6.9%. On social media, we are seeing harsher language, about people with disabilities, Muslims and refugees, for example’, says Unia director Els Keytsman. ‘There is a normalisation of hate speech on social media, as well as on the street.’